No. 9 Huskers Rise Above Air Force, ASU

Colorado Springs, Colo. - The No. 9 Nebraska men's gymnastics team finished strong at the Rocky Mountain Open, coming is a close second to No. 3-ranked Oklahoma. The Huskers fell to the Sooners by a score of 423.40-418.700 Saturday evening. They finished ahead of No. 11 Air Force and Arizona State.

Nebraska started the evening on pommel horse, scoring 70.400. Wyatt Aycock grounded the team with a 14.75 on the event, followed by freshman specialist Ethan Lottman with a 14.70. The Huskers' first Big Ten medalist, Eric Schryver, finished the rotation in third after struggling late in his routine.

NU then moved to rings, finishing the rotation with a total of 140.200. Senior Wyatt Baier led the team with a 14.45, snagging third in the event overall. Specialist Donovan Arndt finished behind him with a 14.20, then all-arounder CJ Schaaf with a 14.00.

The Huskers saw vault for their third rotation, finishing it off with a team total of 213.10. Sophomore Grant Perdue grabbed a strong 14.70, followed by teammates Wyatt Aycock and Andrew House, who tied with a 14.60.

Schryver led the Huskers on their next rotation, parallel bars, where they finished up with a total score of 282.500. The junior co-captain earned a 14.35 on the event, just inching out Aycock (14.25) for the team lead on the event.

Struggling on high bar, Nebraska fell behind the Sooners with a team total of 328.700. First-time competitor Louis Klein and junior Mark Ringle tied the team's high score on the event with a 13.65, placing them both at third overall on the event.

NU visited the floor for their last rotation, hoping to see strong performances to close the gap between them and Oklahoma. The Huskers struggled to come back from their poor high bar performance. Andrew House managed to grab a 14.60 at the event, which put him at third overall on the event. Klein followed closely behind House, scoring a 14.55 for his routine.

Despite mid-pack performances on all six events, junior CJ Schaaf finished second in the all-around competition with a 80.900. Oklahoma's Alec Robin took first with an 80.950.

The Huskers will travel to Stanford, Calif., next weekend to compete in the Stanford Open. They will host their season opener on January 27, hosting the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames. The meet will be held at the Bob Devaney Sports Center and will start at 1 p.m. CST.